JAMES EDWARD DANIELL is an Australian residing in Germany. He was born in Canberra and raised in Adelaide and currently lives in Karlsruhe, Germany; having lived in Grenoble, France, and Pavia, Italy, previously. James speaks several languages and his work spans the world, with a base in Germany.

James studied at the University of Adelaide, completing an Honours Degree in Civil and Structural Engineering (1st Class), as well as a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Geophysics. He was awarded the Honours Alumni University Medal for 2007, a University Medal and numerous other scholarships, prizes and sports awards during his time at the university. After a short stint in petroleum engineering, he moved to Europe taking up an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, and was awarded a MSc. (Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology) from University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France and University of Pavia, Italy.

In 2008, James was awarded the most prestigious postgraduate award from Australia: a General Sir John Monash Award. As a John Monash Scholar, James chose to undertake a PhD at the Geophysical Institute of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, producing a new methodology for rapid global earthquake loss estimation allowing for accurate economic and social losses estimation, within hours of an event. He was awarded a Doctor of Engineering in 2014 with "summa cum laude".

Over the past five years, James has also produced teaching courses on risk analysis; managed various risk assessment projects in Germany and elsewhere in the world; produced various software packages; contributed to EU Projects: and worked for the World Bank and other NGOs in the field of natural hazards risk.